The signals detected by the scanning device to characterize the individual gear positions are usually obtained in shifting devices of the type described above by optical sensors or magnetic Hall sensors being arranged for every individual gear position on a so-called printed circuit board arranged at the housing. When the gearshift lever and consequently the cover plate are pivoted from one gear position to the other, a magnet or optical signal transmitter fastened to the pivotable cover plate is moved at the same time, and the said sensor or optical signal transmitter generates a control signal in the corresponding sensor when the particular gear position selected is reached.
Since automatic transmissions are increasingly provided with additional gear positions, in which case up to eight different Hall sensors, optical sensors, microswitches or potentiometers scan the individual gear positions, it is easy to imagine that the cost for the shifting device is rather substantial because of the increased manufacturing effort involved in the assembly of the numerous individual components, and the individual cost of the components must be additionally taken into account as well.